Hades Ch. 08

I'm so sorry that it took me quite a few months to post this chapter. I know it's quite short, but I'm already sending chapter nine to my editor. I should have the story up by next week.

Enjoy!

BeastLover18

****

"You guys okay?" Shelly asked without looking up as Hades and Claire walked arm in arm back into Round Table.

"We're great," Hades answered for both of them as he pulled out Claire's chair for her.

"So who's winning?" Claire asked Shelly who was glued to the television.

"Colts," she said smiling at Claire.

"Colts will win, they always do. You know Manning is the best quarterback in the NFL."

The statement caused Shelly to finally turn her attention toward her friend, "Like hell! Brady is the best quarterback in the NFL"

"Please, the only reason people say that is because they won three Super bowl rings, but am I the only one that remembers that they cheated to get those rings?"

Shelly's eyes bulged. "Take that back."

Claire put her elbows on the table and leaned over toward Shelly, "No."

"Okay ladies," Stephanie said as she rubbed her eyes. "We are in public."

"What is going on?" Hades asked Stephanie, having no idea what Claire and Shelly were arguing about.

"Claire's favorite quarterback is Peyton Manning who plays for the Colts, and Shelly's favorite quarterback is Tom Brady who plays for the Patriots. Both are very good teams, but the Patriots were caught cheating back in 2007, it was a football version of Bring it On." She took note of the confused look on all three male faces. "Bring it On, the movie," she elaborated. When the men still continued to look confused, she moved on. "Never mind. To put it mildly they got caught taping opposing team games, which is highly illegal."

"You like the Indianapolis Colts?" Hades asked Claire

She nodded her head, while looking at the television. "The team altogether is really good, but I think that Peyton Manning is the jewel behind the Colt's success."

Hades laughed looked at Claire and realized that she talked a lot of shit. "Wow, you are just a big shit talker aren't you?"

Claire looked at Hades with her jaw dropped. "I'm not talking shit."

"Yes you are," Hades said as he put his arm on the back of her chair and rubbed his thumb over her back. "Poor Shelly's team is caught cheating and you constantly rub it in her face don't you?"

"You bet your ass she does," Shelly interrupted before she went back to watching the game.

****

Claire was trying to keep her eyes from rolling in the back of her head; Hector's touch gave her more pleasure than the small vibrator she had bought. She looked toward him and saw him looking at her with his deep sea blue eyes; she didn't realize that the others at the table were watching at them except for Shelly. Once the pizza came they all started to eat and talk about each other and how Claire, Stephanie, and Shelly became friends.

"My mom, dad and I just moved into town and I was sitting under a tree reading a romance novel my mom had just finished. Then I heard a voice say that she was wondering what I was doing in her favorite spot, I looked up and there was a red haired girl with boobs probably bigger than mine at that time standing with her hands on her hips. I was scared to death."

Hades looked at Claire as he took a bite out of his peperoni pizza. "What did you look like as a freshman in college?"

"Mmmm...Let's see overweight, thick glasses, and frizzy hair," Claire answered giggling. "I happened to get rid of two but as you can see I still have one flaw that I have yet to correct."

"I bet you were cute," Hades commented.

"I really doubt that," she said as she realized that he was going out of his way.

"I don't you think you understand," Thanatos said to Claire. "I have known Hector all my life and he hardly pays any complements to anyone."

"Thank you for that lovely input Thane," Hades said as he took a drink of his water.

"I have to go use the restroom," Stephanie stated as she pushed her chair back, stood up and looked at Shelly, "You coming?"

"I guess I am," Shelly said as she reluctantly got out of her chair and followed Stephanie to the restroom.

Once Claire saw that the two were out of sight she leaned on her forearms, "So did you guys want to come to Shelly's surprise party?"

The three men paused looking at her with some surprise, "When is it?" Hades asked as he wiped his mouth with the paper napkin.

"Later on tonight, you guys have to be there at eight."

"Eight?" Thanatos repeated.

"Yep, you see we throw each other surprise parties unsuccessfully almost every year, so we decided to change the time and location."

"Where is it going to be?" Hades asked.

"We aren't sure," she said as she began biting her nails.

"What about Hector's place?" Hypnos offered.

"What?" Claire and Hades asked simultaneously.

"Well, Hector has quite a bit of space in his three story place."

Claire turned to Hector, "Would you be willing to let us have it at your place?"

Hades looked at her and realized what Hypnos was doing, "Of course you can use my place. How many people are you planning to invite?" He asked.

"Less than fifteen people. We all don't really have a lot of friends outside of the three of us."

"Why is that?" Hades asked.

"Probably the same reason you guys do. You're surrounded by friends who watch your back, tell you the truth, and love you even with your faults."

All three men looked at each other, and laughed causing Claire to slightly jump in surprise. "No, that's not why we hang out with each other." Hades stated.

"Then why do you guys hang out with each other?"

The question caused all three men to look at each other, "We are all we know."

Claire looked at them with a frown, "That sounds really sad and depressing."

****

Hades watched Claire and Stephanie talk about what type of decorations to put on the staircase. He grabbed one of the many beers out of the fridge and uncapped it. Once he raised it to his lips a shiver went down his spine. He put the beer down on the nearest counter and looked out of the window to see Jim and Demeter walking arm in arm and each one holding a present in their free hand.

They rang the doorbell and Claire rushed over to open the door, once she opened it Hades saw her happy smile disappear in an instant.

****

Claire ran to the door and opened it; there stood her date from hell with a tall skinny blonde. She immediately put on a fake smile and greeted Jim and his date, "Hi Jim, and..."

The blonde smiled, "I'm Debbie, and I'm Jim's sister." She handed over the small gift bag to Claire.

Claire grabbed it and stepped back for them to enter, once they stepped in she felt a presence behind her she looked back and saw Hector behind her and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Jim, Debbie this is my..."

"Boyfriend, Hector." He finished for her as she pulled her closer to his side. She noticed Jim raise his eyebrows.

"Boyfriend?" Jim questioned as he handed her his present.

She smiled. "He's joking."

They walked in and saw that they were the only ones there, "Are we early?" Debbie asked as she looked around.

"Yeah, it doesn't start until eight." Claire said without removing Hector's arm that had moved from her shoulder to her waist. The movement caught the attention of both Jim and Debbie who looked quite unhappy about how close Hector was to her.

"Oh, Shelly told us to be here at seven," Jim said as he checked the time.

Claire laughed. "Yeah, before it used to start at seven but as you can tell Shelly already knows what time her 'surprise party' starts."

"Claire?"

Stephanie walked up to Claire holding the party cups once she looked up and Jim and Debbie she instantly froze.

"What's up Steph?"

Stephanie shook her head. "Um...what cups do you want me to put out?"

"The martini cups."

"I can't find them."

Claire sighed. "I'll go find them." She looked over at Jim and his sister and excused herself.

"Athena sent a handmaiden to look over my little girl." Demeter said once Claire was out of sight.

"Demeter, what are you doing here?" Stephanie asked as she put the cups down looking at Demeter.

"I came to see what has become of my daughter." Demeter unlinked her arm from Pirithous and walked up to Hades. "I see that you lucked out."

Hades didn't remove his gaze from hers. "I see that you took something from Tartarus."

Demeter sighed looked down. "Well, I had to fix what you broke. Once I found out about the baby I had to take matters into my own hands."

Hades clenched his jaw; he looked at his mother-in-law turned her back toward him and started walking around his house. "You should leave Demeter."

She turned back and looked at Hades. "Why? We are here for this awesome party."

Hades counted to ten knowing that the method wouldn't work causing the night to seem unending.

****

Athena walked up to Hades house looking at decorations that covered the house; she smiled with the knowledge Persephone was indeed found by Hades. She rang the doorbell and instantly felt a tense but powerful presence.

Demeter.

She instantly froze, not knowing what scene lay behind the door.

"Hello," Athena jerked her head up to find Claire in the doorway smiling.

"Hi, I'm...."

"Thena?" Athena looked over Claire's shoulder to see her handmaiden Stephanie.

"Oh? So you're a friend of Stephanie's? Well come on in." Claire stepped back to let her in.

Stephanie looked at her in shock. "Would you like me to get you something?" Claire asked.

"That would be great, thank you." Stephanie and Athena watched as Claire walked into the kitchen to get Athena a drink.

"I see things are doing well," Athena commented as Stephanie continued to gape at her. "I know everything."

Stephanie closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Athena smiled while looking at all the mortals walk around conversing with each other not realizing that they were in the same house as three of the most powerful Greek gods. She looked at Stephanie out of the corner of her eye; she had her red hair covering her entire face showing not only her defeat but also submission. "Stephanie, is there a room where we can talk? I really don't want to have this discussion next to the staircase."

"Of course," Stephanie answered, refusing to look Athena in the eye. Once they reached the guest bedroom, Athena walked over and sat down on the bed.

"Come sit," she told Stephanie as she patted the spot next to her. Stephanie sat down next to Athena. "I know you love him. I know he loves you and you both can make each other happy, but my hands are tied. My father has taken a liking to you, and my father is not someone who is told 'no'." Athena sighed she watched as the strongest of her handmaiden's crumbled before her eyes.

Stephanie looked into Athena's eyes. "I will do whatever is needed of me."

Athena's heart broke, and at the same moment that Thanatos—who had heard their conversation—walked out of the house.

****

Hades watched as the smile on Claire's face widen when she saw that he was in kitchen, "Hey you."

He took a drink of this beer, while she poured punch into a tall cup. "Hey what are you doing?"

"Getting a drink for a guest," she told him while focusing on her task instead of the man at her right. "Why?"

"Nothing," he said staring at her. Just as she was about to leave he grabbed her free arm and pulled her body against his. "What are you going to do now?"

She laughed. "I'm going to go give the drink to the guest."

"Interesting," he said as he took a swig of his beer, all the while his arm was around her waist.

"Not really," she answered. Hector was still staring at her. "Are you going to let me go?"

"Nope," he answered.

"I hope I'm not interrupting."

Hades looked over the top of Claire's head to look at Pirithous standing in the kitchen doorway. He did notice how Claire moved closer into his front almost as if she was asking for protection. "You are," Hades answered truthfully.

"Yeah, we were having a staring contest," she added with a nervous laugh, as she looked back at 'Jim'.

Hades looked down at Claire with a smile on his face and looked back at 'Jim' who he now learned was Pirithous. He grabbed her hand and led her out of the kitchen without breaking eye contact with Pirithous.